Grad Profiles highlight the personal and professional stories of Founder Institute Graduates from across the globe.

This profile on Green Crowding, a graduate of the Brussels Founder Institute, was written by Emma Tzeng. Founded in 2012 by Sissy Mueller, Green Crowding helps renewable energy project developers secure funding from local communities instead of taking bank loans.

As environmental preservation grows into a bigger priority among developed nations, more and more citizens and businesses are taking strides to make eco-friendly life choices and decisions. In a survey of over 3,000 corporate leaders in 113 countries, the MIT Sloan Management Review and the Boston Consulting Group found that 70% of respondents say that sustainability has a permanent place on their management agendas.

With environmentalism on the rise,Green Crowding seeks to make a big impact on businesses looking to capitalize on this development by helping renewable energy project developers find the funds they need to get their projects built and generating clean electricity.

Based in Germany, Green Crowding was founded by Sissy Mueller, who believes that “an environmentally-friendly economy is feasible and profitable in the long-run” and injects this mantra into Green Crowding’s core mission.

Specifically, Green Crowding helps renewable energy project managers secure funding from local communities instead of seeking bank loans. It reasons that involving the local community in these projects opens up new opportunities to drive the transition to sustainable energy, as the current bank loan process is over-complicated and deters project developers from getting the funding they need.

With Green Crowding, project developers and investors can complete the payment and contract signature process entirely online on one platform, thereby simplifying the funding process for both parties. Furthermore, project managers can keep its investors updated via electronic communications, which facilitates a convenient stream of communication between the project’s owners and funders.

So far, Green Crowding has helped project developers fund and build a solar park in Eastern Germany. The startup reports that it has three projects in its current pipeline, including two solar-powered schools and a solar-powered supermarket.

With eco-friendly initiatives already on the rise, societies around the world can expect to see more enterprises taking more environmentally-conscious measures in the future. As this shift continues to take shape, Green Crowding rests at the helm of a greener world.

The Founder Institute is the world's largest entrepreneur training and startup launch program, helping aspiring founders across the globe build enduring technology companies. Based in Silicon Valley and with chapters across 50 countries, the Founder Institute has helped launch over 1,563 companies in 5 years. The company's mission is to "Globalize Silicon Valley" and build sustainable startup ecosystems that will create one million new jobs worldwide.